Review of Andrew Jenks, Room 335

Andrew Jenks, Room 335 (Documentary)

This film was produced for HBO. The director and star is Andrew Jenks, a 19 year old college sophomore who managed to get admitted to Harbor Place, an asssted living ccommunity in St. Lucie, Florida. He was assigned to Room 335 and began filming the lives of the residents, all over age 55, most over 70. Andrew develops friendships and assists the residents in their daily chores and jokes with them over the five week period of the filming. We are introduced to a number of them, but you remember Tammy, age 96, confined to a wheel chair, but alert with a sense of humor and vibrant. Then there is Bill, a 25 year Army veteran who at 80 is still robust taking daily walks to the local dollar store and buy chocolate bars for some of the residents. He is also a collector of vases and cups he purchases at the store. But, Bill is verging on senile dementia. In spite of the handicap kids around even arm wrestles with Andrew. There is tragedy as we watch those we grow to know transferred to the local hospital to die or return to Harbor Place after extensive surgery. There is a poignant scene in the hospital as Andrew prays with Verna who is in a semi-conscious state and going into a death rattle. It is good movie, but Andrew dwells too long with Bill and his good-natured arm twisting. This is a documentary that catalogues the fate we all await - the inevitable. There is even the ones who were taken by social workers who promised them a choice of homes only to be dumped in Harbor Place which is really a bit on the upscale. Another documentary should be made of the abuse by social workers of Florida's guardianship laws that allow social workers to literally take charge of the elderly they deem unfit, tie up their assets and confine them to elder care facilities. Some have gone to court and been released to their status before the social workers stepped in to disrupt their lives. Andrew Jenks, Room 335, is worth viewing if only to say to yourself, "There but for the grace of God..."

Posted on 12/05/07 by: Texgotham 01:52 PM